In a weird way, you can look at the glory years of SCTV as a love letter to the city of Edmonton. Sure, it was a twisted, madcap love letter, but for head writer Dave Thomas and his crew, the SCTV Edmonton era was a special one. Whether it was being able to reimagine Edmonton as a Soviet burg, or transforming the city’s downtown into a New York streetscape — Thomas and his collaborators found comfort and inspiration from a city that was far away from the prying Toronto eyes of CBC or the Los Angeles and New York execs of NBC. Thomas’s...
Edmonton got a royal visit on Monday. As part of her Canadian tour to promote her family’s vineyard and the famous Sassicaia it produces, Donna Priscilla Incisa della Rocchetta hosted several foodies and wine fans at Lux Steakhouse and Bar. In 2003, Priscilla Incisa della Rocchetta married Prince Heinrich, the first heir of the German state of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn. Yes, in today’s world, these old families of European city-states don...
In my late teens and throughout my 20s, I listened to a lot of hardcore music. (OK, I still do, but not as much. Scares the children.) The essence of the music is power. Not only is it loud and fast, but the lyrics are about the continuing power struggle between “the man” and everyone else. The musicians take the voices of the disenfranchised, bitter because their constant calls for changes went unheeded. When I moved to Alberta back in 1993, I quickly began comparing the people of this province to those angry punk singers. Here was a province that lived in...
Dave Thomas, the man who made “take off, eh!” part of our national lexicon, will be honoured for his contribution to film and television in Alberta. Thomas was a writer and actor with the seminal sketch-comedy show SCTV, when it was based in Edmonton throughout the early ‘80s. On Wednesday, the Alberta Media Production Industries Association announced that the highlight of its 40th-anniversary celebration will be a Special Achievement Award for Thomas. The Ontario-born SCTV alumnus will be honoured as part of the “Rosies,”...
Edmonton will host the opening ceremonies of the largest women’s sporting event on the planet, the Women’s World Cup, on June 6, 2015. The announcement was made Thursday at City Hall. Edmonton is one of six host cities for the 2015 Women’s World Cup, but Commonwealth Stadium will host the most games, 11 in total. BC Place in Vancouver gets the final, but Edmonton will host the opening ceremonies, the opening game (which will feature Canada), Canada’s second game of the tournament, a semifinal on Canada Day 2015 and the third-place game. Even...
As the editor of Avenue, I get to go to quite a few fundraisers and/or social occasions. But, for me, the Storybook Ball is special because it’s a night that I don’t need to call the sitter — because it’s meant to be shared with the entire family. The second annual Storybook Ball was held at the Shaw Conference Centre Saturday, March 2. More than 350 attendees helped raise more than $45,000 for Ronald McDonald House, which provides a home-away-from-home...
Four more Edmonton restaurants will be featured in the new season of the Food Network’s You Gotta Eat Here! Host John Catucci and the camera crew recently visited the kitchens at the Highlevel Diner, Louisiana Purchase, Sofra and The Dish Bistro. The second...
The programmers of this year’s Global Visions Film Festival made some educated guesses — and their picks came up golden. Included in the documentary film festival’s picks for 2013 are The Gatekeepers and How to Survive a Plague — which have both been nominated for the Best Documentary Oscar. The festival runs from Feb. 27 to March 3, and its brass unveiled the film lineup to the media on Friday, Feb. 1. Of course, festivals have to make their picks long in advance of announcing...
Edmonton is the first market outside of three northern Colombian states to get Cafvino on its liquor-store shelves. But what is it? Is it a dinner wine? A dessert wine? A liqueur? With its distinctive light brown colour, it doesn’t look like wine. To the nose, it feels like a Tokaji, sweet and musky. But when you take a sip, it’s not overpoweringly sweet. And, there is no sour or vinegar finish like you get from a lot of wines. That’s because the mellow coffee flavour takes over....
Over the last century, the sandstone walls of Government House have contained rooms used for many different purposes. The house has been home to past lieutenant-governors of Alberta; it’s been a home to American engineers during the Second World War; it’s been a hospital for veterans; it’s been a derelict building. And, as of Wednesday, it’s a national historic site. The highlight of a 100th-birthday event — attended by Lietutenant-Governor...
